For The Sake Of Living
by GhostMemories
Summary: Prequel to "For the Sake of Family". This is what had happened during Iris' time as the captain of the USS Eyre and the tragedies that befallen her since and how she first met Khan. Set 1 year before the events of STID. Disclaimer, I do not own Star Trek only my OC!


**AN: Please bear with this story here while I work out the last details of For The Sake Of Family. Enjoy! :)**

Chapter 1. The USS Eye

The USS Eyre or as the crew joking nicknamed it "Eye" after Iris, was finally able to set off from its 2 months' of repairs and upgrades. The previous planet they had visit was not exactly very welcoming and proceeded to view the starship as a threat. The shields were up a second too late but luckily only part of the ship was damaged and none of the staff was hurt.

Iris sat in the captain's chair on full alert since the attack on the ship the previous night before. Fatigue was something she dealt with on a regular basis so she was not as bothered as the rest of the crew.

"Captain! There is a Klingon patrol unit approaching us!" Her fist officer, Hale warned from his station.

"Shields up!" Iris commanded.

"Does anyone speak in this ship speak Klingon?" She asked and received silence.

"The Klingon ship is locking onto our ship, Captain!" Another officer, Jackal shouted.

"Can we go to warp?" Iris asked.

"That is not possible, we need distance to warp and the Klingon patrols have us surrounded." Hale stated increasingly worried.

"Captain, they're firing!" A voice warned just before a small impact collided with the shields.

The Klingons were firing at every space available in order to cripple the ship that had unknowingly entered their space. The shots never stopped coming until the shields were damaged enough to allow openings to the ship itself. Screams of the crew in chaos as the impact collided with the USS Eye.

"Shields won't be able to hold, Captain!"

"Commence emergency evacuation plans!" Iris shouted through the coms before pressing a button on her arm rest.

Gold light surrounded every member of the crew except for Iris who was redirecting systems to commence evacuation procedures. The bridge crew was teleported to the shuttles and boarded on relying on the instructions issued by the system voice.

By the time everyone was off the USS Eye, Iris had realized that her chance of survival was next to none as the shields went down. She felt the floor tremble from impact and the whole ship tilt, rushing to meet the ground. Then there was smoke and burning, the black uneven ground littered with fire was all she could remember seeking. Shouts filled the air as well and some of the escape shuttles were destroyed by the Klingons.

When Iris woke up again it was silent and she wondered briefly where she was. The lightning struck nearby and Iris would have jumped if not for every fibre in her body screaming in pain and the dizziness inside her head. She let her eyes wonder and saw the waste land before her and finally figured out where she was. The abandoned section of the Klingon homeworld and where the previous capital was. She had also seen some burnt bodies lying about, their stench making her eyes water with every breath she took.

Her eyes picked up something shiny on the ground next to her. A communicator. Her hands fumbled for it and her body protested as she grasped it tightly. In the distance thunder rumbled again and she began to dial the universal distress signal. The pounding in her head grew and Iris began to lose consciousness. Faint static noises sounded from the com giving her a ray of hope before fading into darkness combined with the sound of heavy footsteps.

"Why are you putting her in a cell? She must have been in excruciating pain as she dialled, it's a miracle she is still alive and breathing by the time we found her. And the damage done to her by the fall and those burns…"

"We don't know exactly what happened on the ship. This is just precaution."

"She the captain for god's sake! And all the survivors have already testified that she had made the best decision in that kind of situation."

Iris woke up to two foreign voices arguing. When she opened her eyes everything was a blinding white and she immediately closed her eyes again. A soothing hand patted her gently on the head, big but gentle like her father.

"Shhhh, go to sleep. You feel better when you wake up next." A masculine voice whispered and she fell back to sleep.

When she finally woke up again, she found herself on what looked like a hospital bed inside a prison cell. A soft humming tune came from the next cell but she turned her head to find her view to the other cell was obscured by an opaque glass and only saw the shadow of what appears to be a man.

"Hello?" She called out, finding her throat feeling raw and her voice sounding next to a squeak.

The humming suddenly stopped abruptly and silence came. She watched as the silhouette of the man turned facing her direction.

"So you are awake…" The man's deep voice instilled chills up her spine.

"What do you mean?"

"When you were brought here, you were heavily injured and perhaps on the verge of death."

"Oh. What happened to the rest of my crew?"

"Do you have no concerns for yourself?"

"They are part of my family."

"Your faith in your crew is admirable. Most of your crew survived according to the guards and doctors that had been here to check up on you. You are quite the talk here, Captain."

"Why am I here?" Iris asked ignoring his tone.

"You were found in an abandoned sector on Qo'noS with bodies of your crew and Klingons littered about you. That warrants suspicion does it not?"

"And who are you?" Iris' voice was gaining strength.

The figure hesitated for a second before answering.

"My name is Khan Noonien Singh."

Footsteps could be heard outside the door and both of them immediately ceased their conversation. Admiral Marcus strode in glancing at the occupant of the cell next to hers before focusing on Iris.

"I see that you awake, Captain Kirk."

Iris nodded silently wincing as pain shot up from her neck. The admiral seemed to have noticed her discomfort and gestured to the guards. The guards came inside her cell and began pushing the bed out of the room.

"What are you doing?" Iris croaked, trying to move away.

"We are going to fix you." Marcus said offhandedly.

One of the guards placed an oxygen mask on her face, she felt a prick in her arm and felt something injected into her before losing consciousness yet again.


End file.
